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South Africa secured a series win over the British and Irish Lions after a Morne Steyn penalty in the last minute earned them a 28-25 victory in an epic second Test in Pretoria.

In what was an almost unbearably exciting finish to a classic encounter at Loftus Versfeld, replacement Morne Steyn (pictured) punished an illegal tackle from Lions substitute Ronan O'Gara with a monster kick from inside his own half with the last play of the game.

The defeat was all the more heart-breaking for the Lions as only a minute earlier the outstanding Stephen Jones landed a touchline penalty to level the scores and keep the series alive.

Unlike in the first Test, the Lions started superbly and built up a 19-8 lead before South Africa justified their world champions tag by reeling in the injury-hit tourists.

The Lions will rightly feel it was an opportunity missed but luck was not on their side as they lost both props and both centres to injury as the Springboks finished the game strongly.

But the scoreboard will show that the Boks out-scored the tourists by three tries to one with JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana and replacement Jaque Fourie crossing, the latter six minutes before the end to claim the lead for the home side.

There were several outstanding performances for the tourists, not least try-scorer Rob Kearney, who produced one of the great full-back performances in Lions' history.

Stephen Jones can also be proud of his efforts as he scored 20 of the Lions' points with a conversion, five penalties and a drop goal.

The Lions might also feel aggrieved with the decision of referee Christophe Berdos not to punish Schalk Burger with a red card for a gouging incident on Luke Fitzgerald early in the game that earned the recalled flanker a spell in the sin bin.

The tourists continued where they left off last week in Durban and tore into their hosts from the first minute, refusing to give an inch up front and moving the ball into midfield at every opportunity.

Indeed, the Lions had the edge in the front row, with loosehead prop Adam Jones getting the better of Tendai Mtawarira, and also in midfield, where Jamie Roberts and Brian O'Driscoll were again outstanding.

But by the 68th minute the Lions had lost all three plus tight-head Gethin Jenkins to injury, and with their departure the visitors' chances of squaring the series looked in serious doubt.

The Lions took the lead with an early Stephen Jones penalty and made the most of Burger's absence when Kearney showed great composure to go over in the right corner four minutes later after an excellent offload from Stephen Jones.

South Africa, although on the back foot, wasted little time bouncing back and scored the first of their tries when Pietersen came off his wing to take a superb scoring pass from scrum-half Fourie du Preez.

With outstanding veteran lock Simon Shaw leading the challenge up front, the Lions continued to get the better of the early exchanges and punished the Boks again in the 15th minute when they were caught offside.

Fitzgerald had a couple of chances to add another try as the Lions developed a good attacking position for Stephen Jones to extend their lead with a drop goal four minutes before the break.

By this stage Andrew Sheridan had come on for Jenkins, who suffered an eye injury in a tackle on Habana, and the Boks went into half-time 16-8 down after a Francois Steyn penalty from within his own half.

The Lions lost Adam Jones with a shoulder injury five minutes after the restart and were lucky not to be penalised for their indiscipline when Boks fly-half Ruan Pienaar twice missed shots on goal in the 48th and 53rd minutes.

With Pierre Spies finding his running game, the Boks started to stretch the Lions defence but it was the tourists who added to the scoreboard, with Stephen Jones's third penalty just after the hour making it 19-8.

A minute later O'Driscoll flattened Boks' replacement flanker Danie Rossouw with a barely legal tackle. Rossouw had to leave the pitch and it also signalled the end of O'Driscoll's influence on the game.

South Africa scored their second try moments later when Habana came off his wing at speed and burst clear under the posts, with the conversion making the score 19-15.

With O'Driscoll and Roberts having left the field, the Lions were in disarray, with replacements playing out of position and the Boks gaining confidence from the injuries.

Morne Steyn and Stephen Jones swapped penalties to make it 22-18 going into the last 10 minutes, but it looked just a matter of time before the Lions defence cracked.

That moment came in the 76th minute when Fourie was worked into space in the right corner and showed excellent strength to fend off the tackle of Mike Phillips and dot the ball down.

The television match official needed several looks at the score before rightly awarding the try.

Morne Steyn landed a glorious touchline conversion to make it 25-22, but the drama was not over as a high tackle from replacement Andries Bekker on Stephen Jones handed the Welshman a chance to tie the scores.

The fly-half showed remarkable composure to land the penalty from the touchline and the Lions were back in the series.

But with the last move of the game, O'Gara gathered a ball deep in his own half and proceeded to take out du Preez in mid-air as he chased his own kick ahead.

Morne Steyn had been brought on for just such a moment and the Blues fly-half wrote his name in South Africa rugby history with the winning kick from 55 metres.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport